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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Paul stood still as he looked at the tree where the branch snapped, he was smiling as he could still remember how embarrassed he looked that day. A few seconds later the door behind him opened so he turned around to see. “You could have knocked you know” Sarah said and Paul was speechless as he looked at Sarah. “Nosebleed” he suddenly uttered and Sarah looked at her curiously. “Nosebleed?” she asked. “Oh no I’m sorry, what I meant was you look very pretty today…no I mean you are always pretty but today you are even prettier” Paul mumbled and she laughed at him.

Once they reach the apartment Jeff and Fred dropped the controllers on their hands and in unison they uttered “Nosebleed!” Sarah was already curious so she turned to Paul and asked him, “What’s with the nosebleed?” and he started laughing as the two were still motionless looking at her. “It’s just an anime thing trust me” he said and she turned to Jeff for answers. “Well in the anime when a guy suddenly sees a pretty girl then they get nosebleeds” Jeff told her but Fred disagreed. “When the guy in the anime sees a girl in a sexy attire dude that the time they get nosebleeds!” and Jeff elbowed him. “I knew that but I had to explain it to a girl dude!” he said and Sarah laughed at them.

“Don’t get us wrong Sarah, we are not perverts but with that skirt of yours oh boy you make our temperatures rise” Jeff explained and Sarah smiled at them. “Don’t worry I’m actually flattered, next time I will make sure you won’t get nosebleeds” she said. “No no please just be yourself, we actually enjoy nosebleeds” Fred added and everyone burst in laughter.

They started to watch the video and after a few episodes Jeff started acting weird. “I am really hungry now, Fred are you hungry?” he asked. “Yeah If only someone would cook for us like always” Fred replies and they both look at Paul. “Yeah I get it, you don’t have to say it, it’s becoming a habit I noticed” Paul said as he stood up and proceeded to the kitchen. “Where is he going?” Sarah asked as she was about to stand up. “Remain seated Sarah; Paul has got everything under control. He is our culinary expert” Jeff told her. “He can cook?” she asked and both of them nodded. “You will be amazed on how delicious his food tastes, you would not even think a guy cooked it” Fred added.

“Did he go to cooking school?” Sarah whispered and they both shook their heads. “He lives alone most of the time so he cooks for himself. He loves to watch cooking shows and Oprah” Fred revealed and Paul suddenly shouted from the kitchen. “I heard that! Don’t go telling lies about me or else I will make sure you stay in the toilet for a long time” he said and Sarah laughed. “He saves lives, he cooks, so what else does he do?” Sarah asked and Jeff moved closer to her. “He underwent first aid training because of a girl but in the end she dumped him at once” he whispered. “He used to be totally geeky but one day he transformed into a tough guy because he always got picked on by older boys. He still got beat up but eventually he became stronger and was already feared by the bad guys at school. So whenever we have problems we just mention his name and everyone lets us be” Fred added.

“But don’t be scared he is not a delinquent, he just shows everyone he is one. Everyone got shocked when he got an honorable mention award when we graduated. You should have seen their faces, oh man we were like so happy for him that time” Jeff recalled and Sarah smiled. “He is amazing, but is it true that he never had a girlfriend yet?” she asked them. “He is afraid of girls, except for Diane that is” Fred answered. “Hey try this trick on him, stare him in the eye, if he can stare back then he doesn’t like you. If he quickly looks away then he likes you, don’t tell him I told you. That is his weakness; it’s all in the eyes. The best part is he does not know that we know about it” Jeff whispered and they again started laughing.

Lunch time arrived and the dining table was set, everyone gathered around to eat. Jeff looked at Sarah and nodded at her as Fred started to giggle. “Hey Paul this is delicious” Sarah said and Paul didn’t look at her but said thanks. Jeff signaled Sarah to keep trying so Sarah moved closer to Paul. “Hey Paul if I tie my hair back like this does it suit me?” Sarah again asked and Paul glanced at her a bit and said yes. Fred and Jeff were giggling as they pretended to be eating.

Sarah gave up and everyone just continued eating. After a few minutes Paul noticed some sauce on Sarah’s cheek. “Hey Sarah there is some sauce on your cheek” he told her and Sarah tried to wipe her face but she missed the spot. Paul moved his hand closer to her face and said “Here let me” and Sarah looked at him, Jeff and Fred were watching the two closely. Paul and Sarah’s eyes met and after a second they both looked away immediately. Jeff and Fred looked at Sarah who was blushing and her head bowed, Paul stood up and went to the kitchen to get more food.

“You can’t look at his eyes too, you like him don’t you?” Fred asked Sarah and she just smiled at them. “Please don’t tell him” Sarah whispered and Jeff and Fred nodded and started to laugh. Paul came back with a refilled plate and he noticed the two giggling. “What are you two so happy about?” he asked. Fred looked at Sarah who bowed her head, “Sarah do you know what they are laughing about?” Paul asked her and she shook her head. Paul sat down and continued to eat but he noticed his two friends smiling at him. “What? What’s with those smiles?” he asked them but Fred and George shook their head and continued eating.

Paul and Sarah left the apartment early and they did not get to finish what they were watching. “Sarah, I’m sorry about how Fred and Jeff acted” he said to her. “No its fine, they were fun to be with” she replied. “I’m sorry I could not watch the video with you, I was too busy cooking maybe next time we should order some take out” he said. “Actually I was impressed with your cooking, it was delicious” she said. Paul was embarrassed and scratched his head. “About the cooking part, I hope you don’t tell anyone else. I am ashamed to admit that I can cook, you know it’s a guy thing” he said and she started laughing.

As they reached Sarah’s house Paul stood by the door and looked at Sarah. “Would you like to come in?” she offered. “Maybe next time, I have to go check on Diane. I promised her that I would visit her today” he answered. “And what would you be doing tomorrow?” she asked. Paul looked away and said “Tomorrow I have to clean the house, spend some time with Jaypee, and…I don’t remember the rest but I am sure I am missing something” he said. Sarah opened the door and told him, “Paul you should spend some time for yourself too, you can’t please everyone” and Paul pondered on what she said. “As long as they are happy then I am happy too” he said softly. “Thank you for today Paul, and by the way you are amazing” she told him and smiled. Paul blushed and bowed his head and started walking away. Sarah closed the door and leaned on the wall; she brought out two movie tickets from her bag and looked at them. Sarah sighed and walked towards the trash can and threw the tickets in.

It was a bright Monday morning and Paul was enjoying a debate with Jeff and Fred on the grass. “Hey Paul you might want to look at this” Jeff said as he pointed towards a group of students gathered together. “So what it’s just a gathering” Paul said as he looked on. “Those three guys are ganging up on the little guy that should interest you enough” Fred pointed out. In an instant Paul stood up and walked towards the group of guys and Jeff and Fred watched intently.

Fred and Jeff saw Paul reach the groups of guys and a few seconds later the bullies raised their hands and slowly walked away. Paul was talking to the little guy and Jeff started reminiscing. “Fred, that scene brings back memories, we were in that guy’s shoes back then” Jeff recalled. “Yeah, I could remember how he just stared at the bullies, he didn’t even say a word and they backed off” Fred said. Paul parted ways with the little guy and he walked back towards the two. “Amazing, simply amazing Paul. It seems you have not lost your touch” Jeff commented and Paul sighed.

“Hey Paul, long time no see” said a girl’s voice and they all turned around and were stunned. Kara smiled at them and said “May I join you guys?” and three in unison nodded as if they were in a trance. “Hey Kara, how are you?” Paul said with a shaky voice. “Bored actually, how about you?” she replied. Paul was about to answer when he got struck on the head by a book. Paul held on to his head and grimaced in pain, the three were frightened as four guys approached them.

“I heard what happened a while ago, I heard you are a tough one” said a tall and muscular guy. Paul slowly stood up and shook his head several times and then turned to face the bullies. “That hurt you know” he said and the four men laughed at him. “Would you four please follow me outside, we need to talk” Paul said and he lead the way and the bullies followed him. Kara stood up and panicked, “We should call security!” she yelled but Jeff held her arm. “Relax Kara, please sit down. I am Jeff by the way and this one here is Fred” Jeff said.

“Isn’t he your friend? Aren’t you worried about him? Come on we have to call security!” she insisted but the two started laughing. “Kara sit down and relax please. There are many things that you still don’t know about Paul, so calm down and he will be back soon” Fred told her. Kara slowly sat down but still she looked worried. “Is he really going to be okay?” she asked and the two nodded. “The mere fact that you can see us today is all because of Paul, if it were not for him then I don’t know where I would be right now” Jeff said. “What do you mean?” she asked and Fred began to tell her the story.

Ten minutes later Kara was laughing at Jeff’s antics and Fred interrupted him and said, “Look here he comes just like we told you.” Kara looked and she saw Paul walking calmly with a serious face. “He looks so cool when he walks like that” she commented and Fred and Jeff looked at her and they saw her smiling. As Paul reached them Kara immediately stood up, “Are you okay Paul?” she asked and he just smiled at her. “Can you walk me to my class?” she asked and Paul simply nodded.

As they were walking they saw the four bullies and Kara noticed traces of blood on their faces. “Aren’t those the guys you talked with?” she asked as the four men bowed their heads as they passed them. “Yeah, and I’m not proud of what I did but it just had to be done” Paul said softly as he too bowed his head as they walked on. Once they reached her classroom Paul still had his head bowed but Kara touched his chin and lifted his head up. “I’m sorry Kara” he softly whispered. “Paul, you don’t have to be sorry. They told me everything and I am really amazed by you” she said and he managed to smile at her.

Paul went back outside and quickly sat down beside Fred. Jeff wrapped his arm around Paul’s shoulders and said “Hey you lucky guy, so what did Kara say?” Paul grimaced in pain and leaned on Jeff. “My body aches right now” he said and Jeff and Fred started to laugh. “But you looked unharmed when you got back here” Fred told him. “And you think I wanted to show her I was hurting, I had to act cool man” Paul said and it drew more laughter from his friends.

Paul laid on the ground and took a deep breath, “Hey guys do you think she would go out with me?” he uttered and again in unison they answered no. “Yeah I thought so…but she said I was amazing” he said as he closed his eyes.